Kain Colter sniffed out the jail-break blitz, shuffled to his left and began to reduce Syracuse defenders to Orange blurs.

His dazzling second-quarter run chewed up 33 yards, and six plays later, he reached across the goal with the ball to put the exclamation point on a 16-yard scamper.

This is why Northwestern fans rejoiced when Colter announced Wednesday he was "ready to go" despite getting knocked out by a concussion last Saturday at Cal.

As good as quarterback 1-b Trevor Siemian is, it's 1-a Colter who makes the Wildcats tick.

"He's one of the more dynamic playmakers in the country," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "And he has an unbelievable grasp of the offense."

The two put on a dazzling display Saturday night in Northwestern's 48-27 rout of Syracuse. After combining to go a ridiculous 22-for-24 in the first half, they finished 30-for-37 for 375 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

"Our guys up front played a heck of a game," Siemian said. "They made it really easy for us against a heavy-blitz team. Our (receivers) on the outside can play. Get the ball to them and make us look good."

Colter did fumble on a scramble, but center Brandon Vitabile snatched the ball.

Like Vitabile, Northwestern's receivers were sure-handed. Tony Jones led the way by hauling in nine passes for 185 yards, and Treyvon Green scored on an 8-yard pass to put Northwestern on the board 51 seconds into the game.

The rushing attack did not produce much outside of Colter's 87 yards on 11 carries as Venric Mark spent the night on the sideline, helmet-less.

The speedy senior tailback is suffering from a lower-body ailment that is said to be "nagging," and the Wildcats would love to avoid using him until Oct. 5.

That's when Ohio State visits for what could be Northwestern's biggest home game since the 1995 Rose Bowl season.

But first the 2-0 Wildcats have to keep the train moving by dispatching Western Michigan and Maine.

Fitzgerald will have to guard against overconfidence, just as he saw some leakage in his defense after the Wildcats took a 34-7 lead into halftime.

Syracuse scored with ease to start the third quarter, and that infuriated Fitzgerald. On a night in which Northwestern paid tribute to the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, Fitzgerald channeled the irate version of Joel Quenneville to deliver a tongue-lashing to his defensive unit.

"We did not come out the way we needed to," he said. "We were lethargic, not very emotional."

The Wildcats gave up 434 yards for the game, but they had enough huge plays to make up for it. Tyler Scott forced a fumble, and they intercepted four passes.

Safety Traveon Henry made a terrific grab on a long Drew Allen throw along the sideline, linebacker Chi Chi Ariguzo leaped to snag a pass, tackle Dean Lowry picked one off from close range and safety Ibraheim Campbell grabbed a deflection.

Henry said that when he saw Allen release the pass, "I got real excited. I was like a squirrel trying to get a nut."

Northwestern's special teams also were superb. Jeff Budzien hit both field-goal tries to improve to 5-for-5 on the season, and Northwestern's coverage teams left the Orange starting their first-half drives from their own 21, 20, 7, 12, 14, 25 and 27-yard lines.